I think Nick doesn't talk about the PMs, but about replies notification. The one that comes floating out of the gray 'arduino' bar at the top. It is a nice effect, but personally I'd prefer if only a little icon / text showed up within the bar itself - not covering a whole of the screen.

• Upload doesn't work? Do a loop-back test.• There's absolutely NO excuse for not having an ISP!• Your AVR needs a brain surgery? Use the online FUSE calculator.• My projects: RGB LED matrix, RGB LED ring, various ATtiny gadgets...• Microsoft is not the answer. It is the question, and the answer is NO!

That is unchecked. I read that as being for personal messages not forum messages. But in any case it is not checked. However I still get the pop-ups.

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It is a nice effect, but personally I'd prefer if only a little icon / text showed up within the bar itself - not covering a whole of the screen.

I just don't think it is particularly useful. For one thing, if I go to the forum after being away for a while (eg. in the morning) a whole lot of them pop up. I follow the first one. By the time I have done that the others have gone. And they don't come back. So, I have to click "replies" to see the other ones anyway.

Really what would be more helpful would be a reply count (like a message count). Right now I see at the top RH corner:

It would be nice if it said "5 replies" - then I know to click on replies to see what they are. As it is, I click on it anyway (consuming server resources) just to find no-one has replied. And then, when I am away from the screen making coffee (or getting a beer) the pop-up appears telling me I have a reply, and then it goes away.

So the pop-up consumes resource (presumably for all users, all the time) for no particularly useful effect.

Please post technical questions on the forum, not by personal message. Thanks!

It would be nice if it said "5 replies" - then I know to click on replies to see what they are. As it is, I click on it anyway (consuming server resources) just to find no-one has replied. And then, when I am away from the screen making coffee (or getting a beer) the pop-up appears telling me I have a reply, and then it goes away.

So the pop-up consumes resource (presumably for all users, all the time) for no particularly useful effect.

I was trying to read the replies to this thread and the forum was hanging again.

Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 16:32 UTC

• Upload doesn't work? Do a loop-back test.• There's absolutely NO excuse for not having an ISP!• Your AVR needs a brain surgery? Use the online FUSE calculator.• My projects: RGB LED matrix, RGB LED ring, various ATtiny gadgets...• Microsoft is not the answer. It is the question, and the answer is NO!

Got another massive lag spike just then (about 4:25 pm Australian EST summer time). I don't get the strong impression that the forum administrators care, because all my posts here are ignored, basically.

(About 5:25 am UTC on 29 March 2012).

Even though I use AdBlock to stop the 2.5 minute lag when it tries to look up my outstanding posts, that of course does not stop other people tying up the database while it tries to do it for them.

Please post technical questions on the forum, not by personal message. Thanks!

Got another massive lag spike just then (about 4:25 pm Australian EST summer time). I don't get the strong impression that the forum administrators care, because all my posts here are ignored, basically.

(About 5:25 am UTC on 29 March 2012).

Even though I use AdBlock to stop the 2.5 minute lag when it tries to look up my outstanding posts, that of course does not stop other people tying up the database while it tries to do it for them.

I also saw a severe slowdown. I think that they really need to look into fixing the problem.

Avoid throwing electronics out as you or someone else might need them for parts or use.Solid state rectifiers are the only REAL rectifiers.Resistors for LEDS!

I'm not convinced throwing money at it will do it. A while back I got the impression the administrators were keenly monitoring the situation with a view to working out the problem. However my recent reports have gone largely ignored. (With all due respect to the forum admins who are no doubt very busy).

I think, though, that some of the "helpful" features, like notifying you of new posts might be bogging down the database. Through no fault of my own, when I check my "subscribed" list there are dozens of pages. That's because every time I reply I get auto-subscribed to that thread. So I wonder if hundreds of people, being checked for thousands of threads, might not be slowing it down.

BTW - another massive lag spike around the time of this post.

Please post technical questions on the forum, not by personal message. Thanks!